The Ticket Stub
by mabelreid
Summary: One Shot. Once again someone leaves Reid behind.  Will JJ's departure be the final straw and destroy his trust in friendship?


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**_The Ticket Stub _**

Reid let the door to his apartment slam behind him as he hurried inside. He dropped his go bag on the floor, leaving it unheeded as he almost ran to his bedroom. He yanked open the door to his closet and rummaged in the very back of his upper shelf. He elbowed a box of old comic books to the floor where they splayed open in an untidy heap. He ignored them and the two dress shirts he knocked off their hangers in his haste to get to the shoebox at the very back.

He pulled it down from the shelf and fumbled off the top. Right there on the top lay his ticket stub for that long ago Redskins game. It didn't seem possible that it had been five years ago almost to the day. He'd been a very young twenty-four and now he was edging up on twenty-nine.

He slid down to the floor of the closet, not noticing the slacks and shirts hanging over his head, or the storage box to his right. He didn't take in the dusty smell, the carpet, or the scent of clean clothes. All he could smell was the pop corn, hot dogs she'd wanted, and the one beer he'd sipped because she had one too. At the time, he'd hated the taste of the alcohol, but he hadn't wanted to appear the baby.

He looked down at the ticket and tried to make his brain process the fact that JJ was gone. How could they take her away from the team? They needed her as the plants need the sun for food. It wasn't logical. She did her job better than any of those lame bureaucrats at the top. She kept them organized and sane. She was the heart and soul of the team. She was one of his best friends.

A tear trickled down from the edge of his eye and over his cheek. He ignored it and let it fall onto the hard little cardboard of the ticket stub. It laid glistening and quivering for a minute before sinking into the paper. He carefully placed it back in the box with other memories of the team he kept, because somehow he knew that he'd lose them all one day.

He stood up and put the box way back on the shelf. It was over, done and finished. His father left, his mother was a prisoner in her mind, Gideon had left, and Elle left without saying goodbye and now JJ was gone. He wouldn't let anyone into his heart again. Every time he did, someone took advantage, or left him. He wouldn't let it happen again. There must be something wrong with him that made people leave. They must sense something about him that they didn't like.

His cell phone began ranging insistently, jerking him out of his thoughts… He looked at the caller id, shock curling up into his chest. Why would she call now?

"Hello…" He answered in a very shaky voice.

"_Why did you leave without saying goodbye? I went back into the bullpen and everyone was gone." _

He didn't speak because he couldn't make his brainwork.

"_Spence."_

He swallowed hard against the pain of her name for him.

"Why did they take you away from us?"

"_I don't know. I'm sure it had something to do with Strauss and her ambition. I just hope this means that they'll promote her away from the BAU or maybe we'll get lucky and she'll get pushed in front of a speeding bus." _

That was a cheerful thought that made him smile through more tears. "I hope you're right."

"_I called you because I know you're probably sitting there at home deciding that you'll never trust anyone again." _

"How did you know that?" He said, too surprised to lie to her.

"_I know you, Spencer Reid. I know how you think. You're not losing me. I'm always going to be your friend. I'm going to live here and I'm going to make sure you stay in Henry's life. He loves you and I love you." _

"I love you too." He whispered.

"_Stop sulking then or I'll have to come over the and hurt you."_

"I'm not sulking," He denied.

"_Spence…" _

"Alright, I'm smiling." He informed her.

"_Good, now let's plan a day for you and Garcia to have a play date with Henry." _

Ten minutes later, he ended the call from JJ. She was right, he couldn't live in the fear that everyone would leave him. Life was meant to be lived, not shunned. He would try his best to do just that, for his friend.


End file.
